2013 Annual Tourism Networking Meeting Annual Tourism Networking Annual Report. SeattleSouthside.com Annual Report - 1

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1 2013 Annual Tourism Networking Meeting 2013 Annual Tourism Networking Meeting Annual Report Annual Report Museumof offlight, Flight,Space SpaceGallery Gallery May May1,1, Museum SeattleSouthside.com Annual Report - 1

2 2013 Annual Tourism Networking Meeting Dear Partners and Tourism Advocates, As the official destination marketing organization of the cities of Tukwila, SeaTac, Kent and Des Moines, Seattle Southside provides leadership and services to competitively market the destination. This function helps create jobs, grow tax revenue, and improve quality of life for residents and businesses. Seattle Southside has nurtured a powerful and effective travel brand over the past several years, building awareness of member cities as a collective destination and contributing to economic growth. Now, it is time to take that brand to the next level. Southside hoteliers have come together to express interest in creating a Tourism Promotion Area. With Washington State being the only state in the country without a state funded tourism office, timing of this initiative is critical to remain competitive. Our goal for the upcoming years will be to position Seattle Southside as a destination of choice for leisure, group, and business travelers while enhancing the image, confidence and economic strength of the community. I know working together is the key to our success and I look forward to the upcoming challenges and achievements that lie ahead. Sincerely, Katherine Kertzman, Executive Director Annual Report - SeattleSouthside.com

3 City of SeaTac Mayor - Tony Anderson Tourism is a major contributor to the economic vitality of the City of SeaTac and helps to define our image as the place where everywhere s possible. The Seattle-Tacoma International Airport welcomed 33 million travelers through the gates in 2012 and many of these tourists stay in our hotels, dine in our restaurants and enjoy our wonderful parks. City of Kent Mayor - Suzette Cooke As evidenced by the 15,000 visitors that attended the Hilton HHonors Skate America event last fall, tourism is a huge economic driver for Kent. Visitor spending reduces household taxes and creates jobs for our residents. City of Tukwila Mayor - Jim Haggerton With the recent adoption of the City of Tukwila s first Strategic Plan, tourism has become even more vital as we develop into the city of opportunity and the community of choice by providing superior services that support a safe, inviting and healthy environment for our residents, businesses and guests. City of Des Moines Mayor - Dave Kaplan Des Moines is an economically thriving community that maximizes the potential of its natural assets. We encourage high economic impact development such as tourism as part of a multi-faceted approach to improving the local economy. To INFINITY and BEYOND! SeattleSouthside.com Annual Report - 3

4 U.S. Travel Means Big Business Travel and tourism is one of America s largest industries Each U.S. household would pay $1,055 more in taxes without the tax revenue generated by the travel and tourism industry. Direct spending by resident and international travelers in the U.S. averaged $2.2 billion a day, $92.8 million an hour, $1.5 million a minute and $25,700 a second. Travel and tourism is America s largest services export industry $152.4 billion in travel exports and the $110.5 billion in travel imports creates $42 billion in balance of travel trade surplus for the U.S. Travel and tourism is one of America s largest employers Supported 14.4 million jobs, including 7.5 million directly in the travel industry and 6.9 million in other industries. 1 out of every 8 jobs in the U.S. depends on travel and tourism. Generated $194.6 billion in payroll for those employed directly in U.S. travel. Source: U.S. Travel Association. New international flights out of Seattle. Source: Port of Seattle. Beijing Seoul Shanghai Taipei Tokyo/Narita Tokyo/Haneda Osaka Annual Report - SeattleSouthside.com Seattle

5 Tourism is an Economic Driver Washington State Tourism is an essential industry in Washington State. It is Washington s fourth largest export industry by Gross Domestic Product, with $16.9 billion in total direct tourist spending in More than $1 billion in local and state tax revenues are contributed by visitors to our state, equivalent to almost $400 for every household in the state. For many communities and regions of this state, tourism represents a significant percentage of their local economy. Without a statewide marketing program and platform upon which those communities and regions can promote their attractions they will continue to lag in the economic recovery. King County Forty percent of travel in Washington State occurs in King County. In 2012, tourists in King County spent $8.1 billion which generated nearly $500 million in state and local tax receipts. Accommodations and food spending make up the majority of visitor spending King County. Tourism officials have been working together to ensure the tourism industry stays healthy. By cultivating new opportunities that drive economic development and marketing to international travelers, tourism will continue to be an investment in our future. Reykjavik London Frankfurt Amsterdam Paris Dubai SeattleSouthside.com Annual Report - 5

6 Seattle Southside 2012 Preliminary Report Visitor Spend & Hotel/Motel Report Nearly 30 percent of King County hotel rooms are located in Seattle Southside. Seattle Southside Visitor Services spent 2012 focusing on group sales and promoting leisure travel through trade show attendance, conference and familiarization tours, advertising, social media, public relations and other targeted marketing campaigns. Seattle Southside is well on the way to recovery. The preliminary 2012 impact estimates for the four cities within Seattle Southside show visitors spent $625 million in the region generating $63.8 million in state and local taxes. Travel spending in Seattle Southside increased by 5.8 percent from 2011 to Employment grew by 4.6 percent an indication that the stagnation in employment growth following the recession is finally subsiding. This is the strongest growth in employment since % Change Travel Spending $591.4M $625.7M +5.8% Local/State Taxes Generated $60.7M $63.8M +5.1% Employment: Jobs 5,010 5, % Employment: Wages $172.3M $185.2M +7.4% Hotel/Motel Visitor-Nights Seattle Southside King County Washington State 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% Almost 75 percent of all tourist nights in Seattle Southside are attributable to Hotel/Motel stays. This percentage is much greater than for King County which is just over 40 percent and Washington State which is nearly 30 percent. Source: Dean Runyan Associates 2012p report of Annual Report - SeattleSouthside.com

7 Overnight Tourist Expenditures Travel Party Party Size Length Stay Hotel / Motel $ Other $ All Overnight $ In 2011, the average expenditure totaled: $740 with a length of stay of two days. In 2012, travel parties spent $877 in expenditures and the length of stay went up 20 percent. This is the first measureable increase in Average Length of Stay for the Seattle Southside area since the Seattle Southside Travel Impacts reports by Dean Runyan Associates have been collected. Tourists are finding reasons to stay longer and spend more in shops, restaurants and attractions. Lodging Sales Tukwila $52.4M Kent $18.8M SeaTac $115.7M Des Moines $1.8M Travel Spending Tukwila $625.7M Kent $160.6M Des Moines $23.6M SeaTac $181.5M Source: Dean Runyan Associates 2012p report of A regional approach to tourism promotion has been the creed for Seattle Southside and these charts reinforce that point. Although SeaTac has 60 percent of all lodging sales, Tukwila has the greatest estimated visitor spending with its share of sales in food services, entertainment, and retail. The regional approach permits capitalization on each of the cities strengths, including waterfront and family attractions, unique museums and thrilling sporting events and close proximity to adventures of all kind. SeattleSouthside.com Annual Report - 7

8 2012 Preliminary Report Seattle Southside Arrivals Visitor Arrivals (Millions) Visitor Nights (Millions) Air Arrivals p All Overnight Person-Nights Visitor arrivals (domestic only) to Sea-Tac Airport have increased for the thrid year in a row. The estimate of all overnight tourist-nights (the number of nights that all individual tourists stayed in Seattle Southside) is shown in the chart to the left. The overall increasing trend in tourist volume corresponds to the increasing trends in travel spending and related impacts shown previously. Seattle Southside hosted over 4.4M tourist nights in p Source: Dean Runyan Associates 2012p report of Source: 2012 Smith Travel Research, Inc. Constant steady improvement. That is what is coming from the hotel side. Seattle Southside is nearly to a full recovery from the recession and 2013 should continue that trend. One of the key indicators of growth to focus on is the increase in occupancy rate. With a 3.4 percent increase, this is especially promising because with more of our rooms full it means more people are being employed to support the guests Annual Report - SeattleSouthside.com % Change Occupancy % ADR % Supply 3,200,210 3,216,380 3,263, % Demand 2,073,548 2,185,919 2,290, % Revenue 180,305, ,098, ,435, %

9 Outcomes & Opportunities Shoulder Season Campaigns In the past, Seattle Southside has implemented a variety of shoulder season campaigns. Last year with the help of the Seattle Seahawks, a new package was introduced geared specifically to weekend shoulder season travelers. The Football Fanatic hotel package exceeded expectations and will make a strong return in the fall of Cruise packages remain a focus, encouraging travelers to extend their stay in Seattle Southside. And the ever popular Fly Fresh and shopping packages continue to yield room nights. Social Media Along with targeted campaigns, Seattle Southside continues to enhance the perception of the region through public relations and social media efforts. With more than 9,000 Facebook fans, nearly 2,000 Twitter followers, and 1,000 Pinterest pins, an active presence is maintained on several mediums. SeattleSouthside.com Annual Report - 9

10 Outcomes & Opportunities Search Engine Optimization Through the years, SeattleSouthside.com has shown steady growth. Thanks in part to a new design and marketing strategies, specifically search engine optimization. In addition to SEO efforts, Seattle Southside staff focused on adding compelling content to improve natural search and help maintain high placement in the search engines. 50,000 45,000 40,000 35,000 30,000 25,000 20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000 0 This year s first quarter numbers show the website is already performing quite well over previous years. Unique Visitors Seattle Southside Monthly Unique Visitors Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Internship Program The Seattle Southside internship program provides students outstanding exposure to the destination marketing industry. The Visitor Center offers an exciting opportunity for college students to turn their leadership potential into valuable professional experience to get a head start in their career. Interns learn the power of quality communication, peer support and excellent customer service through the program Annual Report - SeattleSouthside.com Top: Laura Landwehr and Indah Fitria Bottom: Michelle Meeks, Melanie Veyrier and Gizem Karadoglar

11 Outcomes & Opportunities Visitor Services In 2012, the Visitor Center had direct contact with more than 40,000 people through s, phone calls and walk-ins. That is up 6.5 percent from This growth can be attributed to increased signage and web visits. When the website shows growth in unique visits, the Visitor Center experiences increased interactions in phone and inquiries. With the additional signage from the Port of Seattle s new Rental Car Facility directing travelers to the Visitor Center, there was an increase in walk-in traffic. Last year, Visitor Center staff hosted several local familiarization tours geared towards increased product knowledge and cross selling local businesses. These tours bring frontline staff together to experience what Seattle Southside has to offer first-hand so they are able to better relay information to their traveling guests. DMAI Annual Convention Last summer Seattle Southside had the opportunity to send the entire staff to Destination Marketing Association International s Annual Convention since it was held in Seattle. Ashley Comar, the Marketing Communications Manager, was named one of 30 under 30 emerging leaders of the national destination marketing industry. SeattleSouthside.com Annual Report - 11

12 Outcomes & Opportunities Group Sales Military reunions remain good business for Seattle Southside properties, both big and small. They represent valuable off-peak room nights. In 2010, the first Conference and Familiarization (ConFAM) tour for military reunion planners was held. Staff planned the conference, transportation and tours, scheduled entertainment and worked closely with area businesses to generate sponsorships and oversee logistics. The hard work paid off in the form of group bookings and nationwide media attention. In April 2012, Seattle Southside hosted another ConFAM. Planners from across the nation participated, booked groups and once again, positive media attention was generated. Area businesses, including the Museum of Flight, continue to believe in this initiative and have generously donated over $50,000 in services to support these ConFAM events. Because of the increased emphasis on recruiting military reunions, reunion activity tripled. This niche market will continue to be a major focus in the future. With the goal of more sales strategies in mind, staff will leverage a presence with C-vent and DMAI s Empowermint to make sales outreach efforts more efficient and strategic. By partnering with DMOs around the state to represent Washington State at events such as Go West Summit, NTA, International Pow Wow and MPI Cascadia, staff will build relationships with meeting and event planners, make sales calls and travel to trade shows around the country to focus on bringing meetings and events to Seattle Southside. ConFAM attendees at the Museum of Flight. Military Reunions Annual Report - SeattleSouthside.com

13 Outcomes & Opportunities Return on Investment Last year Seattle Southside began using DMAI s performance measurement tracking tools and was one of the first DMOs in the state to begin reporting performance outcomes and ROI in this manner. This year Seattle Southside staff touched 6,425 room nights and generated over an estimated $8.1 million in tourist spending. SSVS Estimated Tourist Spend Visitor Center 184 reservations $161,368 Online 1,349 reservations $1,183,073 Groups 3,954 room nights $1,466,934 Football Packages 53 reservations $46,481 Shuttle Riders 28,750 riders $4,311,900 Promo Hotel Sites 157 reservations $137,689 Hotel Sites 912 reservations $799,824 Total Tourist Spend $8,107,269 Total Estimated Tourist Spend: $8,107,269 Program Budget: $1,388,861 ROI = $5.84 in direct tourist spend to $1 invested Source: Dean Runyan Associates & Destination Marketing Association International. SeattleSouthside.com Annual Report - 13

14 Outcomes & Opportunities Tourism Promotion Area Seattle Southside staff will work with partnering cities and ratepayers to create a Tourism Promotion Area (TPA) to help the region remain competitive with other destinations around Washington State. The TPA will help grow Seattle Southside s leisure travel market and group sales with an emphasis on weekends in the shoulder season. The TPA will provide the opportunity for new product development driving these markets. The Steering Committee made up of ratepayers, drafted several ideas and initiatives for how they would like to see the additional funds used. They would like to continue Seattle Southside s branding efforts, generate more exposure and revenue, encouraging visitor spending thus creating more jobs and economic development for Seattle Southside. Development of area marketing campaigns and area events Partnership development Increased public relations outreach Addition of dedicated sales staff Expanded Visitor Center operation Development of sales tools and resources Advocacy and support for statewide tourism marketing Annual Report - SeattleSouthside.com

15 Seattle Southside Tourism Promotion Area Steering Committee Vickie Molzer, Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Seattle-Sea-Tac Airport Frank Welton, DoubleTree by Hilton Seattle Airport & Hilton Seattle Airport and Conference Center Maureen Huffman, Embassy Suites Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Perry Wall, Clarion Hotel SeaTac International Airport Michael Schabbing, Courtyard by Marriott Seattle Southcenter Caroline Curtis, BMI Hospitality Management Scott Ostrander, Cedarbrook Lodge Photo by Amos Morgan Photography SeattleSouthside.com Annual Report - 15

16 Tukwila SeaTac Kent Des Moines 3100 S. 176th Street Seattle, WA Annual Report - SeattleSouthside.com